a mass of meat, a corporeal congregation that jostled & nestled uncomfortably amidst soft wooden pews. remnants of the lives of trees taken by grandfathers, fathers & sons of the bodies that gathered. trees logged, planed & crafted while being inundated with a stream of holy utterances & sacred mutterings. requests of forgiveness, answers to calls of duty, whispers of love & tearful promises of devotion navigated through rows of tombstone teeth to nest on trembling timbres.



knees touched. shy. under coy lashes & the influence of wayward glances they quietly withdrew, in the friendly yet wholly seperate manner that they often do. beads of sweat flecked otherwise immaculate figures/frames that mirrored the idols lining the walls.



still the doors were open.



the lovers spoke & sang their song. as briney globes & worshippers alike gathered with crystalline precision, tensions fell & tickled unclad feet. a veritable sea, pooling upon the floor along with passions, fluids, moist garments, inhibitions, preconceptions & misperceptions about the nature of things, the veil that seperates wanton eyes from the haves & havenots, the holys & the profane, the greeting of lips that replaces the one we always imagined as the epitome of love & the fleeting kiss that yet now flickers & glimmers in the dim reaches of our distant memory.



men speak often of the collision of worlds. with flaming eyes, frothing mouths, swollen tongues & gnashing teeth. blank minds & whitened knuckles bare, pulled so taught the gentle tug of a breeze threatens their grip of flesh on flesh. what lies at the joyful division of these worlds is the unraveling of fortunate minds, the undoing of meek hearts & humble souls.



























ae.